Caspian pipeline shuts down again after a drone attack on two tankers at Novorossiysk

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium shut down again in the early hours of Friday, 31 July 2026, according to OilPrice citing Reuters and the company that operates the pipeline. Ukrainian drone attacks struck two tankers loading at the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, causing a fire on one of them. After the news broke, five tankers bound for Novorossiysk redirected to Turkey and Spain or changed their status to "for orders". This is the third shutdown of the pipeline in a month.

The new halt came only two days after the pipeline reopened. The previous shutdown lasted a week, disrupted Kazakhstan's exports and prompted a reduction in the country's crude output. Industry data cited by Reuters earlier this week showed Kazakhstan's oil and gas condensate production fell to 133,200 metric tons on Sunday, about 1 million barrels per day, down from an average of 2.16 million barrels per day in June.

The 1,500 kilometre Caspian pipeline carries crude from Kazakhstan's giant Tengiz field across southern Russia to the port of Novorossiysk and handles more than 80 percent of Kazakhstan's crude exports. International producers including Chevron and ExxonMobil rely on the route to move Tengiz output to global markets. The disruption adds to existing problems affecting shipping in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea.